Apparatus for treating sheet-metal plates



(No Model.) A J. D. GREY.

APPARATUS FOR TREATING SHEET METAL BLATES.

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INVENTOB A TTOHNEYS.

UNTTED STATES PATENT JOHN D. GREY, or BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

APPARATUS FOR TREATING SHEET-METAL PLATES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 542,1 59, dated July 2, 1895.

Application filed November 8, 1894- Serial No. 528,229. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN D. GREY, of Baltimore city, in the State of Maryland, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Apparatus for Preparing Sheet Iron and Steel in the Manufacture of Tin, Terne, and Galvanized Plates, of which the following is a specification.

The objects of this invention are to dispense with the usual troublesome and costly processes of black-annealing forming part of the treatment to which sheet-iron as hitherto prepared in the manufacture of tin and terne plates or galvanized iron has been subjected, and generally to simplify the treatment of the sheet iron and steel with a view to turning out an increased quantity in less time and cost than at present and to attain an improved result.

I will first describe the process generally practiced in the usual treatment of the sheet iron and steel. After it has been rolled and trimmed to the desired size the sheets are pickled in a bath of sulphuric acid diluted with water for the purpose of removing the oxide or scales, and after they have remained sufficiently long in such bath to have such oxide or scale re1n0'ved the sheets are then removed therefrom and placed into a tank of water for the purpose of washing away or removing the adhering acid. After the pickling process the sheets are placed, while wet, onto a cast-iron stand and are covered over with a cast or wrought iron box and while 5 contained therein are placed in an annealingfurnace and generally left to remain therein from ten to twelve hours for the purpose of annealing and clearing the surface of the plates preparatory to the cold-rolling process.

This process is called by the trade black annealing, and is not only objectionable on account of the rusting of the plates, but is also a very expensive operation on account of the stands and boxes being soon burned by the heat to which they are subjected in the annealing-furnace, and also by reason of the time and labor involved in carrying the plates through this treatment.

My invention consists of an improved apparatus which dispenses entirely with this black-annealing step in the manufacture .of sheet-iron plates, which I will now proceed to describe with reference to the drawings, in Which-- Figure 1 is a side View, partly in section, of

the pickling apparatus; Fig. 2, a side view,

are placed to be dipped into the pickling and" washing tanks a a These racks are suspended by traversing pulleys upon a track f f, which is broken away between theframe e, whose lower portion may form a continuous part of the trackf. The frame eis supported by balance weights 1) and pulleys b and has an up-and-down motion, so as to permit the racks to be dipped successively into the pickling-tank a and the washing-tank a a'nd then transferred to the trackfagain on the other side of the frame 6.

I take the sheets from the water-tank after being pickled and washed and While still on the racks a of the pickling and washing apparatus, and then I place each rack with the sheets onto a carriage c, Fig. 2, placed conveniently to a drying-oven, which is heated by gas or any other fuel in fireplaces, as shown in Fig. 4. The carriages are then drawn slowly through the drying-oven by means of an endless chain d, to which they are detachablysecured by hooks h, the chains'bein g driven by sprocket- Wheelsw w and the sprocket-wheels by steam or other suitable motive power. The carriages thus move over two mile 0", running through the drying-oven for the purpose of drying the sheets or plates at once to prevent them from discoloring or oxidizing, as the plates do when they are placed wet on the cast-iron stand as it is now practiced in the trade in black-annealing. After the sheets have passed through the drying-oven they are then taken at once to the cold-rolling mill (represented at m, Fig. 3,) for the purpose of cold-rolling, each sheet to close the pores of said sheets. After the carriages c are pulled through the oven by the hooks h and chains (1 they require to be disconnected from the chains, and this is done automatically in my invention by the teeth of the sprocket-wheel, which, striking against the lower side of the hook it, throws it up and disconnects it from the chain, so that after the carriages pass through the oven they come to a standstill to permit the plates to be unloaded and taken to the cold-rolls. After the sheets or plates have gone through the cold-rolling process they are ready to go through the white-annealing process and be finished in the usual Way.

By my improved apparatus two days time can be saved in the course of manufacturing tin and terne plates, besides the dispensing with the usual costly and troublesome process of blaclcannealing the plates in the manufacture or preparation thereof as hitherto practiced.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 'is- 1. In an apparatus for treating sheet metal plates, the combination of an oven having rails extending through it, sprocket Wheels arranged outside of the oven and connected by an endless chain also passing through the oven, and carriages for the plates having hooks h adapted to connect the carriages to the chain and be automatically disconnected by the teeth of the sprocket wheels substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The apparatus herein described for treating iron and steel plates in the manufacture of tin, tome, and galvanized plates, consisting of the combination with the pickling ap- 

